Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Product: Jabra SP700.
Price and Availability: $99 out now
Pros: Doesn’t make you look like a tool.  Easily answer calls in your car.  Makes not upgrading to the expensive new cars “tech package” a lot easier to live with.  Sound is great, surround sound through speakers is even better.
Cons: no air of superiority that comes with a headset (wait, maybe that should be in the Pros?)
Overall: I’ve already ordered two for my cars.  I give it 10/10

If you are like me, you’ll go to almost any length no to wear your bluetooth headset.  An incoming call when I am in the car sends me fumbling around my front seats for the tiny headset, the awkward install into my ear and then my eyes are back on the road.  Surely that is safer than just answer the phone?

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Seriously, that’s the answer.  Somebody created a Bluetooth earpiece that is shaped like a pistol, and they named it iGiveUp, which is obviously the first thing you say when you see someone pointing it at you. 

So, next time you get a call, you can pull out your iGiveUp and pull the trigger to receive it.  (Hopefully your Bluetooth headset is not loaded.) Just ignore the looks of the people around you as they think you are about to commit suicide or a very violent act of aggression. 
Hopefully they will calm down once they see you talking into the grip and listening to the barrel.  Maybe they will have a good laugh after their good scare, and take a picture of you.  Maybe that’s how this guy in our photo got his picture taken.  Is it just me, or does this remind me of that one picture of John Hinckley Jr.? 

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Guaranteed to turn heads on the streets of London, the San Francisco based Aliph recently announced that the Jawbone headset will now be available in the UK through a partnership with The Carphone Warehouse.

The new Jawbone Bluetooth headset is said to be 50% smaller than its earlier incarnation and boasts of cutting-edge technology in noise elimination.  In essence, beauty and utility are married in this stylish accessory. The new Jawbone brags about its “military-grade NoiseAssassin” technology, which zeroes in on your voice and eliminates all other ambient noise to ensure crisp and clear sound even if you’re in a busy street. NoiseAssassin, as the manufacturer says, was originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in its goal to have reliable communications even in battlefield situations.

With models such as “Goldy Lips”, “Blah Blah Black”, and “Silver Tongue”, the new Jawbone is incredibly fashionable. Measuring only 508mm long by 1.27mm wide by 1.27mm thick and weighing a measly 10 grams, grabbing the new Jawbone will be no problem as you strut down the street.

Via [MobileBurn]

We saw the follow up to the Jawbone hit the FCC a few weeks back and it looks like Aliph has just made it official. The new Jawbone is being touted as “the best just got better” and assuming the same, or better sound quality that could be a very accurate statement. It looks like the new Jawbone has been put on a diet, as the new version is 50% smaller than the original and weighs in at just 10 grams. In addition the headset has “military-grade NoiseAssassin technology” which should only improve on the overall voice quality as compared to the original. The headset offers 4 hours of talk time, 8 days on standby and will achieve an 80% charge in 35 minutes with a full charge in just about an hour. 

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Comfortable headsets are great when you can find them. If they are cordless it’s even better. Now add the ability to listen to your iPod wirelessly for up to 10 hours straight. If that is not enough – what if you and three other people could share the wireless connection? Have I peaked your interest yet?

Kleer (good name when talking about headsets) and DigiFi have joined their resources to give us a cordless headset with CD quality sound known as Opera. A bit rich at $98 but an interesting concept I must say.

Opera is not your ordinary headset. It wraps from behind your head and up over your ears. Earbuds make this headset unobtrusive and as far as looks are concerned – streamlined comes to mind.

Read [Kleer] Via [Gear Live]

Bluetrek has just announced their latest Bluetooth offering, and while a decent looking headset its not quite as unique as the BIZZ, which featured a microSD slot for storage. Their latest, the X3 Bluetooth headset is a follow up to the X2 and offers an estimated 8 hours of talk time with 10 days on standby. The headset itself is weatherproof and should be comfortable to wear thanks to the variety of ear hooks that it comes with. The X3 is also lightweight coming in at around 0.46-ounces. Otherwise the headset was designed to take its fair share of abuse thanks to the rugged construction. Look for the X3 to be available this June, initially in the UK only and retailing for £29.99 (around $60 US).

Via [ubergizmo]

Noise-canceling headphones be gone! Who needs inferior products such as those when you can comfortably sit back with two calls simultaneously with the Jabra M5390 dual Bluetooth headset? Talk about trying to tell everyone around you that you are busy, and can’t be disturbed no matter what. This mind-boggling device, in my honest opinion, is so dumb that it’s brilliant!

With the Jabra M5390 dual Bluetooth headset, you can take calls from two different devices, like say a GSM handset and a Skype phone, at the very same time. It offers DSP noise canceling technology itself, although I’m not sure how well that would really work when you’re trying to listen to two different sounds at a time.

Other features include USB 2.0 connectivity via a Bluetooth dongle, and a range of 70 meters. That way, even if you accidentally cut off your ear and dropped it down the elevator, you’d still be able to hear your calls. Or not. And it stays on standby for nearly 60 hours, with talk time billed at 6 hours, give or take. But don’t rush out with your credit card yet, cause there still ain’t no pricing details on this baby. What? Of course it’s for sale, cheapskate.

Via [Crave]

LG and Verizon try to show us that there’s more than one way to make a product portable, and they’re doing so with the new VX8610. What with a very compact sliding form factor, and its very own Bluetooth headset built-in to the body, users will have a very hard time losing another accessory. Though there’s no way to confirm just how well the combination of a handset and headset would work, I gather that LG would at least prepare an effort for this, because after all, this would be the first of its kind. The integrated headset is said to be rechargeable via a dock when not in use, which is pretty neat, and another portability feature because it eliminates the need for a separate headset charger. Continue reading for another shot of the upcoming LG VX8610 with the integrated headset and dock.

Via [Engadget Mobile]

The next generation of the Jawbone has made its appearance, and thanks to the FCC we have a little look as to what’s in store with the future of the Jawbone. Overall it seems that the Jawbone will have some welcome improvements. Judging from the images, it looks like the Jawbone has gone on a diet, sporting a slightly less bulky appearance and according the the “preliminary” manual the Jawbone will retain the patented “Noise Shield” and “Voice Activity Sensor” that make for that great sound, or lack of when it comes to background noise. Another item of interest is what appears to be smaller pins on the charging cable, otherwise the headset still comes with an earloop and various sets of earbuds to allow for a slightly more custom fit. Keep reading to check out some more pictures of the Jawbone, and don’t forget to thank to FCC.

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SoundID has announced its latest Bluetooth headset, the HD 300 with NoiseNavigation control. Boasting a narrow form and chic, high-gloss black finish, the SoundID HD300 Bluetooth headset was designed to complement the natural hearing process. NoiseNavigation is SoundID’s proprietary technology that optimizes speech intelligibility during conversation with two microphones that isolates speech and DSP algorithms. This is said to reduce wind and background noise when the Bluetooth headset is in used, in other words the person you are speaking with should not have any trouble hearing you.

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